Lady&#39;s shoulder protector



Oct. 13, 1953 K. L. HooKs'TRATTEN LADY S SHOULDER PROTECTOR Filed NOV.l 24. 1950 INVENTcm Patented Oct. 13, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE LADYS SHOULDER PROTECTOR Kathleen L. Hookstratten, Whittier, Calif.

Application November 24, 1950, Serial No. 197,195

9 Claims.

This `invention relates to ladies shoulder protectors to be interposed between the strap of a brassire or other garment and a wearers shoulder to protect the shoulder from the strap.

The downward force exerted by a brassire strap against the shoulder of a wearer is often suicient to cause considerable discomfort, and sometimes toactuallycut into or disfigure the shoulder. Various protectors have heretofore been proposedfor preventing such discomfort and injury, but none of these with which I am acquainted has proven as effective as might be desired. For one thing, prior protectors have not been adapted to spread the force exerted by a strapover an area of the shoulder sufficiently wide to overcome the usual tendency of the strap to. dig into the shoulder. Also, the previously proposed protectors have generally been of a nature to withstand very little use before coming apart or otherwise deteriorating to a condition unfit for further use.

The general object of the present invention is to provide `an improved and fpreferably long Wearing shoulder protector adapted to effectively distribute the force Vexerted by a brassire or other strap overa shoulder area wide enough to obviate any appreciable discomfort or injury to the wearer. Aswill appear, such spreading of the strap force is effected by the provision in the protector body of one or more relatively stiff members adapted to extend laterally beyond the garment strap and to thus considerably widen the area over which the strap force is transmitted to the shoulder. Particularly contemplated is a protector which is thus stiifened transversely of the garment strap, to effectively spread the strap force laterally, while at the same time being relatively flexible longitudinally of the strap for conformance with the contour of the shoulder. To provide for only transverse rigidity, I preferably employ as stiffening elements a series of stay members extending transversely of the shoulder strap and free for relative movement in a manner permitting longitudinal flexure of the protector.

In conjunction with the stays, the protector body may contain a sheet of fairly stiff foundation material adapted to maintain the general longitudinal contour of the protector, while being suiciently flexible to vpermit the desired longitudinal flexure of the body. Preferably, this foundation material is located beneath the stays to also serve the function of distributing the downward force of the stays longitudinally of the protector, The foundation sheet may be of buckram or a similar material and itself serve to carry the stay members. A suitable pad, as for instance a film of cotton, may extend about the outer edge portions of both the foundation member and stays to protect the wearer and clothing from any rough edges on these members. Preferably, an outer cloth covering extends entirely about and encloses the foundation material, stays and padding, and carries at the upper side of the protector a fastening strap for removably attaching the protector to a garment strap.

The above and other features and objects of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the typical embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rst form of shoulder protector in use;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the protector of Fig. 1 partially broken away to show its various inner parts;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a second form of protector in use;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the protector of Fig. 3 partially broken away;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the first form of protector and taken on line 5--5 of Figl 2; and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through the Fig. 4 form of protector taken on line 6--6 of that gure.

The rst form of protector, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, comprises a thin somewhat elongated body I0 to be placed on the shoulder II of a wearer, and over which the brassire strap I2 extends (see Fig. l). The protector may be removably fastened to the brassire strap by a transverse strap I3 carried at the upper side of the protector.

As seen in Figs. 2 and 5, the protector is built around a sheet of foundation material I4 of an elongated generally oval shape corresponding to the shape of the protector body. This foundation material is sufficiently stii to give the protector some longitudinal rigidity, while still permitting longitudinal flexure in conformity with the shoulder. I have found double buckram to be hghly desirable for this foundation sheet, both because of the stiffness characteristics of the buckram and because of the facility with which the stays may be fastened to it, as will later appear.

The stays I5 are preferably parallel and extend transversely across the upper surface of foundation member I4. Each of the stays is of a length to extend substantially entirely across the protector, and enough stays are provided to cover` most of the length of the protector. The stays may be formed of any of various relatively stiiT materials, as for instance spring steel or b-one, and may be adapted for limited flexure from their normal straight conditions. To facilitate their attachment to the foundation member i4, the stays are individually covered by cloth sheaths I6 having portions Il projecting laterally from the stays. .These side portions Il of adjacent stay sheaths are fastened to the buckram foundation member by stitching at I8.

To pad the edges of the protector, a strip or film of cotton padding i9 extends about the outer edge portions of the buokram member and stays, and projects inwardly a short distance both above and beneath the buckram and stay unit. The buckram, stays and cotton are all covered rst by an inner cloth lining 2Q and then by an outer cloth covering 2l, both of which may be formed of `upper vand lower sections fastened together about the outer edge of the protector. The stitching 2 2 which secures the upper and .lower sections'- of the lining and .covering together, may

also extend through both the buckram foundation member l'and the cotton pad I8 toin a .single step, integrate all o f these parts of A the protector.

The attaching strap I3 lextends transversely across the upper side `of. the protector, being permanently fastened at one end 23 to the covering 2-l and releasably attachable at its opposite end to the covering by snap fastener 24. As will be appreciated, this fastening strap is snapped about the upper sideof `the brassire strap i 2 to removably attach the protector to the brassire strap in the illustrated relation to it. In use, the transverse stays i effectively spread the downward force of the strap over substantially the entire width of the protector body in a manner preventing any tendency for the Strap to dig into the shoulder. At the same time, the stays are relatively movableA for permitting longitudinal iiexure of the protector Iin conformance with. Athe contour of the shoulder. The

buckram or similar foundation member gives the protector sumoient longitudinal rigidity to facili.- tate its handling and assure its maintenance in approximately the proper condition for fitting a shoulder. This foundation member also serves the highly ,importantfunction of spreading the .downward forceof the stays in use longitudinally of the protector and vtothe .Spaces between stays, so that the force exertedasainst the shoulder is distributed substantially ,evenlyl over the entire area ofthe protector. Q

Figs. 3, 4 and 6 illustrate a variational form of protector especially designed for use with dresses having relatively wide neck openings. Specifically, the body lila of this protector is somewhat narrower than the first form of the invention and generally crescent shaped as shown, having an outer rather abruptly curved edge 25 and an inner relatively straight or only slightly curved edge 26. The protector is positioned farther out on Vthe shoulder than in Fig. l, and the inner edge of the dress at the' neck opening 2"! extends inwardly beyond Aand completely covers the inner edgev 25 of the protector.

The inner construction of this second form of protector is very similar to the first form, including a sheet of stiffened foundation material Illa, arnumber of transverse stays ld carried by the foundation material, padding |911., lining 23a, outer covering 2la and attaching strap 23a. The

vmember (see Fig. 6).`

foundation material in this form may comprise a sheet of plastic material of a stiffness correspending generally to the buckram of the first form, and the stays may be fastened to the foundation material in any suitable manner, as by cementing at 28. Also, as seen in Fig. 6, the cotton padding 19a of the second form of the invention extends not only about the outer edges of the foundation member and stays, but als-o entirely ac ross'the underside of the foundation The pad thus-serves to cushion the force exerted against the shoulder across the entire extent of the protector. In this connection, it is noted that in either form of the invention the' lining 20 or Za may be formed of a flannel material to itself serve as a pad extending entirely across the protector.

lI claim:

1. A ladys shoulder protector comprising a body of flexible material to be interposed between a wearers shoulder and a garment support-strap, means for fastening the body to the strap with the strap extending thereacross in a'predetermined direction, and a plurality of stay members carried by vand relatively stiff as compared with the body and extending thereaoross transversely of said direction in which the'str'ap is adapted to extend to spread the force exerted by the strap over an extended area'of the shoulder, said stay members being separately formed and free for relative movement tc conform ,to the contour of a wearers shoulder, said stay members being of a length to extend laterally beyond the strap.

2. A ladys shoulder 'protector comprising a body of flexible material to be interposed .between a wearers shoulder and agarment sup.- port strap, means for fastening the body to the strap with the strap extending thereacross in a predetermined direction, and a plurality of relatively stiff stay members carried by .the body vand extending thereaoross transversely of said direction in which the strap is adapted to eX- tend to spread the f orce exerted lby the strap over an extended area of the shoulder, said stay members being separately formed and free for relativemovement to conform to thev contour of a wearers shoulder.

3. Arladys shoulder protector comprising a body of flexible material to be interposed between a wearers shoulder and a garment support strap, a fastening strap vattached at one end to the Ybody and adapted to`extend about the garment strap to attach the body .thereto with the strap extending across the body -in a predetermined direction, means for releas'ably attaching the second end of said fasteningstrap `to the body, and a plurality'of stay members carried by and relatively stiff as comparedwth the body and extending thereacross transversely of said direction in which the strap is adapted to extend to `spread the-force exerted bythe garment strap over an extended area Of the shoulder, said stay members being separately formed and free for relative movement to conform to the contourA of a wearersshoulder.

4. A ladys shoulder protector comprising .a

body of flexible material to be interposed".be-

tween a wearers shoulder anda garr'ne'ntl support strap, means for removably fastening the body to the strap with the strap extending thereacross in a predetermined direction, a plurality of relatively Vstiff stay members carried by the body and extending thereacross transversely of Said direotionin which the strap is adapted `to extend to spread the force exerted by the strap over an extended area of the shoulder, said stay members being separately formed and free for relative movement to conform to the contour of a wearers shoulder, said body including padding extending across the under side of said stay members.

5. A ladys shoulder protector to be interposed between a wearers shoulder and a garment support strap, comprising a sheet of foundation material of a width greater than the strap with which the protector is to be used, a plurality of relatively stiff stay members extending across said foundation material, said stay members being separately formed and free for relative movement to conform to the contour of a wearers shoulder, a covering of flexible sheet material extending about and enclosing the foundation material and stay members, said foundation material being relatively stiff as compared with the covering but less stiff than the stay members, and means carried at the upper side of the covering for attaching the protector to the strap.

6. A ladys shoulder protector to be interposed between a wearers shoulder and a garment support strap, comprising a sheet of foundation material of a width greater than the strap with which the protector is to be used, a plurality of relatively stiff stay members extending across said foundation material, means attaching the stay members to the foundation material, a lm of cotton padding extending about the outer edge portions of the foundation material and stay members, a covering of flexible sheet material extending about and enclosing the foundation material, stay members and padding, said foundation material being relatively stiff as compared with the covering but less stiff than the stay members, and means carried at the upper side of the covering for attaching the protector to the strap.

7. A ladys shoulder protector to be interposed between a wearers shoulder and a brassire strap, comprising a sheet of buckram of a width greater than the strap with which the protector is to be used, a plurality of substantially parallel relatively stiff stay members extending substantially entirely across said buckram in essentially a common direction, cloth sheaths extending about said stay members, stitching fastening said sheaths to the buckram, a film of cotton padding extending about the outer edge portions of the buckram and stay members, a lining extending entirely about and enclosing said buckram, stay members and padding, an outer covering extending about said lining, and a transverse fastening strap attached to the covering at the upper side of the protector and adapted to removably attach the protector to the brassire strap with the stays extending substantially transversely of the brassire strap.

8. A ladys shoulder protector as recited in claim 2, in which said flexible body comprises a covering of ilexible sheet material extending about and enclosing the stay members, said stay members being of a length to extend laterally beyond the strap.

9. A ladys shoulder protector as recited in claim 2, in which said flexible body comprises a covering of flexible sheet material extending about and enclosing the stay members, and. a sheet of material within and extending across the major portion of the covering, said last mentioned sheet of material being relatively stiff as compared with the covering but less stiff than 'the stay members, said stay members being of a length to extend laterally beyond the strap.

KA'I'HLEEN L. HOOKSTRATTEN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,546,067 Goldschmidt July 14, 1925 2,485,720 Elliott Oct. 25, 1949 2,487,423 Cast Nov. 8, 1949 2,550,246 Hatch e1', al Apr. 24, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 14,503 Great Britain 1887 114,197 Switzerland Mar. 16, 1926 

